Waistband assembly for garment



June 6, 1961 I M. D. KUBER ETAL WAISTBAND ASSEMBLY FOR GARMENT "ffl- INVENTORS. D. KL/BEP.

Arne/V575 MANUEL 50/2 TOM Filed Dec. 11, 1958 2,986,742 WAISTBAND ASSEMBLY FOR GARMENT Mandel D. Kuber,'Rego Park, N.Y., and Burton B. Ruby,

Michigan City,-Ind., asslgnors, by mesne assignments,

to Joseph Machine 'Co., Inc., New York, N.Y., a corporation of New York 7 Filed Dec. 11, 1958, Ser. No. 779,609

6 Claims. (Cl. 2-236) This invention relates to garments, especially trousers, and more particular to a stiffened waistband for the same.

The primary object of the present invention is to generally improve garments, and more particularly the waistband region thereof. I

One problem is a tendency ofthe top edge of the garment to turn downward at the waist. This is referred' to as roll over. The problem of roll overhas been aggravated in'recent years because of the growing use of thin fabrics. There has been an increasing use of'tropical weight garments for summer wear; an increase in the ,use of synthetic materials which tend to be used in lighter weights than wool fabrics; and in general because of eflicient heating of automobiles and rooms, the garments worn even in winter have become lighter. These light fabrics lack body and therefore have a greater tendency to rollover. 1 I e One object of the present invention is to provide a waistband construction which minimizes rollover even when dealing with lightweight fabrics.

To accomplish the foregoing general ob ect, and other more specific objects which will hereinafter appear, the

present invention resides in the waistband elements and their relation one to another as are hereinafter more particularly described in the following specification. The specification is accompanied by a drawing in which:

FIG. 1 shows a pair of trousers swung open at the front or fly;

;FIG.-2 is a section showing a preliminary step in the manufacture of the waistband assembly, namely the stitching together of the canvas and the curtain;

FIG. 3 shows how these are stitched to the upper edge of the garment material;

FIG. 4 shows the addition of a stiffening tape made of a-. plastics material, to the upper edge of the canvas;

. FIG. .5 shows the relation of the parts of the waistband assembly after the garment material has been turned down to normal position, and corresponds to a section taken approximately in the plane of the line 55 of FIG. 1;-

FIG. 6 is a section similar to FIG. 5, but showing the use of a plastics material stiffening tape of much greater width;

FIG. 7 is .a section through the back half of the garment, taken for example in the plane of the line 7--7 of FIG. 1; and

FIG. 8 is a front elevation of drawn to reduced scale.

Referring to the drawing, and more particularlyrto FIG. 8, the garment here illustrated is a pair of trousers generally designated 12, and having theusual leg portions 14 and 16. The garment is openable at a fly 18, andis. provided with belt loops to receive a belt at 20. In accordance with the present invention, the waistband asthe complete garment sembly of the garment is provided with stiffening tapes.

at the top edge of the garment to prevent roll over, these tapes being indicated at 22 and 24. The garment is conventionally made up of four main sections which are stitchedtogether at two ofutside seams 2'6 and two inside seams 28.

Referring now to FIG. 1, the rear quarters 30and 32 are stitched together at 34. The front quarters are stitched together at 36'. The front and rear quarters are stitched United, arSP tI1 0" 2,986,742 Patented June 6, 1961 2 together by the two side seams 26 previously referred to The .waistband assembly generally designated 40 usually comprises a stiif fabric material concealed'by a material.

The stiif material is commonly called a canvas" in the trade, although in practice it may be more in the; nature of a buckram or cambric. The lining material within the canvas is commonly called a curtain. The canvas and curtain may extend continuously around the entire waist portion of the garment, or may be in two halves, one extending from the fly to the rear seam 34, and the other extending in similar fashion around the other side of the garment, there then being a separation indicated at 42 in FIG. 1.

It is common to make this combination of canvas and curtain in a continuous length, a portion of which is stitched to a garment or a half garment, and then is severed at the proper point.

Referring now to FIG. 2 of the drawing, the canvas is indicated at 44. This is preferably bias cut, but sometimes garments such as trousers are made with a canvas, which is not bias cut. The material is a relatively open weave of cotton or the like which is impregnatedv and stiffened. b

The curtain material is indicated at 46. This may be] cotton, silk, nylon or other desired material. In the case of trousers, the curtain material frequently is the same as the material used for the pockets. it too is preferably bias cut, although this is not essential. The curtain material is preliminarily stitched to the canvas near the lower .7 edge of the canvas, as is indicated by the line of stitching;

' 48. One common practice is to. finish and seal the lower edge of the canvas with a tape of cotton material indicated at 49, and to reversely fold the edge of the curtain. 46 in three thicknesses as indicated at 50, these parts all being secured by the line of stitching 48. This construction has the advantage of concealing subsequent blindstitching connecting the waist assembly to the pockets of? the garment, as is described later.

Referring now to FIG. 3, the curtam 46 is next turned upward and is secured to the main garment material 52: by a line of stitching 54. This stitching preferably passes through the canvas 44, and the upper edge ofcurtain 46 is preferably folded downward or hemmed as indicated at 56. I

The garment material 52 is next turned away from the upper edge of the canvas 44, asis indicated in FIG. 4 by the change from the broken line position 52' to the solid line position 52, thereby exposing the upper edge of the canvas so that it may be stitched to an extra stiffening tape 60. This is preferably done by means of a line of stitching 62 located near the top edge of the, canvas, and the tape 60 is located with its upper edge at the top edge of the canvas. This stiffening tape 6071s preferably a plastics material, and one suitable material is polyethylene. In any case, a plastics material is selected which preferably is resistant to launderin dry cleaning and the elevated temperature of ironing.

Referring now to Fig. 5, the garment material is turned downward, as indicated by the change from the broken line position 52' to the solid line position 52.' The top edge of the garment is marked 64, and stiffening tape 60 is at the top edge of the garment.

The curtain 46 usually begins somewhat below the top edge 64 of the garment, say one-half inch below, but this is not essential, particularly when using the stiffening tape 60 of the present invention. This is so because 7 The stiffening tape 60 may vary greatly in width, and referring to FIG. 6, it will be seen that the trouser construction there shown is the same as in FIG. 5, except that the stiffening tape 70 is very much wider than the stiffening tape 60 in FIG. 5. We have employed stiffen- 5 ing tapes ranging in width from /5 inch to 1% inches. When trousers are used with a belt located near the top of the trousers, the belt itself helps, and the stiffening tape may be narrow, say inch. When the style of the trousers is such that the belt is located well below the top of the garment, the stiffening tape is preferably made wider. Some trousers are made without belt loops and are constructed to be used without a belt, and in such case the stiffening tape is preferably quite wide, said 1% inches in width.

In FIGS. 5 and 7 attention is directed to stitching indicated at 72. This represents the blind stitching previeusly referred to as serving to connect the waistband assembly to trouser pockets or other parts of the garment. Such stitching is not essential, but is'convenient in order to help keep the waistband assembly and pockets in nq ifi n- Reverting to FIG. 1 of the drawing, the stiffening tape is indicated at 60, and it will be seen that there are two lengths of stiffening tape, one in each of the front quarters of the garment. The stiffening tapes terminate short of the side seams, and no corresponding stiffening tape is provided in the rear quarters of the garment. This is the preferred form of the invention for several reasons. One is that roll over is a problem at the front of the 0 garment, and the stilfening tape would be superfluous at the back. Another is that the shape of the human body is concave at the back, and does not as well adapt itself there to the presence of a stiffeningtape, particularly in thelarger widths. Still another is that the plasticsmaterial is somewhat expensive and it would be wasteful, to use the material entirely around the garment when it is only needed at the front. Still another is that the use of two separate lengths at the front only, minimizes a problem of puckeringcaused by, differential shrinkage as between the plastic tape and the fabric materials of the garment.

It is largely for the latter reason that the tape is not stitched tojthe canvas and curtain as a long continuous assembly, with the resulting three-part assembly then being stitched to individual garments. Instead, only the canvas and curtain are stitched to each other as a long continuous assembly. This assembly is stitched to the gsrment or garment halves while the garment is still open, so that the waist assembly and the garment materiel may be turned in opposite directions as shown in 3 It is only thereafter that the short pieces of plsstic tapeare stitched to the waist assembly, again while the garment is still open, as shown in FIG. 4.

Thegarment is completed by putting together the..5 halves of the garment if they are separate; by completing. the corners; by completing the fiys at the front, and. additional details such as stitching down the upper ends. of the belt loops, etc.

Even before this, when the main garment mater-M13 is turned down to its outside or final position, as shown, inFIG. 5, the waist portion. is pressed in a first steam -pressing operation. This is called underpressing and.

may be don e while the garment .is still open. Itisina. tendedprimarily to form and locate andfix the. top edge. 5 64 of the garrnent. In underpressing, the shape of the. buelt is different from that used in final pressing. of the garment. After underpressing, some other, operations; talge plaee suchas blind stitching of the, lower edge, of. the -waist assembly to the pockets.

fte qmpl t ns e, arment h reis s cond pr s n operation in which the finished trousers are pressed, and at this time the trousersrest on adifferently shaped buck, The problem of puckeringarises because of differential,

shrinkage, and because of the change in shape to which the plastic tape is forced in these operations.

Certain precautions in manufacture help eliminate the problem of pucker. One is the use of separate front pieces instead of a continuous band of plastic tape. We recommend a stitch length often stitches per inch. Shorter stitches seem to increase Pucker. We recommend a low thread tension in the sewing machine.

A fine needle should be used, but this is in order not to unduly weaken the plastic tape at the stitch line 62 shown in FIG. 4. A No. 14 Singer or equivalent size needle may be used. The color of the tape is preferably beige or a neutral color which will not tend to show through even a light tropical-weight material.

The plastic used may bea vinyl compound, but we prefer linear (high density). polyethylene, because of its resistance to high temperature and other good qualities for the present purpose. New compounds now being developed may proveeven better. The thickness of the tape has been exaggerated in the drawing. for clarity. It is thin enough to be readily flexible around the waist of the wearer.

Reverting to FIG. 5, it will be seen that the garment waistband assembly comprises a" band of stififabric material' 44 acting as the canvas, and acurtain 46 stitched to the canvas near its lower edge, with the main garment material 52 being folded inwardly and downwardly over the-canvas and being'stitched. at 54 tothe' top edge of the curtain. There is an additional stiffening tape 60 of plastics. material located with its upper edge at the top edgeof the canvas, and stitched to theca'nva's by means of a line of stitching 62. Thestifiening tape'preferably extends across the front half only of the garment, andin the'case'of trousers with a front fly, the stiffening tape consists of two pieces of material, one on each side of" the fly, as is shown in FIGS; 1 and 8.

Itis believed that theconstruction and method of as sembly ofthe improved waistband, aswell as the advan= tages thereof, will be apparent" from the foregoing detailed description. It will also be apparent that whilewe" have. shown and described our invention in a'preferred form, changes-may bemade without'departing' fromthe scope of the invention, as'soughtto be defined in the following claims; In the claims'the referenceto' roll over means rolling over of the top edge'of'the'entire garment.

We claim 1. A garment waistband assembly comprising. a'band of stiff fabric material acting asthe usual. stiffening fabric extending entirely around the waist of the garment, a curtain extending entirely around'thewaist of the garment and stitched to the stiffening fabric near theflowcr edge of the stiffening fabric and of said curtain, and additional stiffening tape made of aplastics material 'which does not fuse at ironing temperatures extending across the front half only of the waist of the garment andlocated with its upper edge atthe top edge of the stiffening fabric and stitched to the stiffening fabric by means of a line of stitching located near. the top edge of 'the stiffening fabric, the main garment material being folded inwardly and downwardly overthetop edge ofthe stif' fening fabric and tape and being. stitched to the. top edge ofthe curtain, the sole means. for securingsthe tape. to. the. garment being stitching, andsaidtape beingsufficiently wide and stiff .to-discourageroll over.

, 2. A garment waistband assembly, comprising a band ofstiff fabric acting as the usual-stiffening fabric-extending entirely around the waist of the garment, a curtain extendingentirely around the, waist of the garment and stitchedto the stilfeningfabric near the' lower edge of the :stifiening fabric, and. additional .stiffening tape made of a linear polyethylene plastics material which" .does= not fuse-.atironing temperatures'yextending acrosdthe front. halftonly of the waist of the garment and located withits upper edge, at.- the,-top;.edge-1of the stiffeningn fabric and stitched to the stiffening fabric by means of a line of stitching located near the top edge of the stifffening fabric, the main garment material being folded inwardly and downwardly over the top edge of the stiffening fabric and tape and being stitched to the top edge of the curtain material at a height well below the top edge of the garment, the sole means for securing the tape to the garment being stitching, and said tape being sufficiently wide and stiff to discourage roll over.

3. A garment waistband assembly comprising a band of bias-cut stifi fabric acting as the usual stiffening fabric extending entirely around the waist of the garment, a bias-cut curtain extending entirely around the waist of the garment and stitched to the stiffening fabric near the lower edge of the stiffening fabric and of the curtain fabric with a double reverse fold of curtain material adapted to later received and conceal blind stitching to other parts of the garment, and additional stiffening tape made of a linear polyethylene plastics material which does not fuse at ironing temperatures extending across the front half only of the waist of the garment and located with its upper edge at the top edge of the stiffening fabric and stitched to the stiffening fabric alone by means of a separate line of stitching located near the top edge of the stiffening fabric, the main garment material being folded inwardly and downwardly over the top edge of the stiffening fabric and tape and being stitched to the top edge of the curtain at a height below the top edge of the garment, the sole means for securing the tape to the garment being stitching, said tape being concealed by the aforesaid curtain and garment material, and said tape being sufficiently wide and stifi to discourage roll over.

4. A fly-front trouser waistband assembly comprising a band of stiff fabric material acting as the usual stiffening fabric, a curtain stitched thereto, and two pieces of additional stiffening tape made of a plastics material which does not fuse at ironing temperatures each extending across the front quarter only of the waist of the trousers and each located with its upper edge at the top edge of the stiffening fabric and secured by stitching to the Waistband materials, the main garment material being folded inwardly and downwardly over the top edge of the stiffening fabric and tape and being stitched to the curtain, the sole means for securing the pieces of tape to the garment being stitching, said pieces being disposed end to end on opposite sides of the fly and together extending across the front half only of the waist of the trousers, and said tape being sufliciently wide and stiff to discourage roll over.

5. A fly-front trouser waistband assembly comprising a band of bias-cut stiff fabric acting as the usual stiffening fabric extending entirely around the waist of the trousers, a bias-cut curtain extending entirely around the waist of the trousers and stitched to the stiffening fabric near the lower edge of the stiffening fabric and of the curtain fabric with a double reverse fold of curtain material adapted to later receive and conceal blind stitching to the pockets of the trousers, the two pieces of additional stiffening tape made of a linear polyethylene plastics material which does not fuse at ironing temperatures each extending across a front quarter only of the waist of the trousers and each located with its upper edge at the top edge of the stiffening fabric and stitched to the stiffening fabric above by means of a separate line of stitching located near the top edge of the stiffening fabric, the main trouser material being folded inwardly and downwardly over the top edge of the stiffening fabric and tape and being stitched to the top edge of the curtain at a height below the top edge of the trousers, the sole means for securing the pieces of tape to the garment being stitching, said pieces being disposed end to end on opposite sides of the fly and together extending across the front half only of the waist of the trousers, said tape being concealed by the aforesaid curtain and garment material, and said tape being sufiiciently Wide and stiff to discourage roll over.

6. A garment waistband assembly comprising a band of bias-cut stiff fabric acting as the usual stiffening fabric, a bias-cut curtain stitched thereto near the lower edge of said stiffening fabric and of the curtain fabric with a double reverse fold of curtain material adapted to later receive and conceal blind stitching to other parts of the garment, and an additional stiffening tape made of a linear polyethylene plastics material which does not fuse at ironing temperatures located with its upper edge at the top edge of the stiffening fabric and stitched to the stiffening fabric alone by means of a separate line of stitching located near the top edge of the stiffening fabric, the main garment material being folded inwardly and downwardly over the top edge of the stiffening fabric and tape and being stitched to the top edge of the curtain at a height below the top edge of the garment, the sole means for securing the tape to the garment being stitching, said tape being concealed by the aforesaid curtain and garment material, and said tape being sufiiciently wide and stiff to discourage roll over.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,366,852 Von Rentsch Jan. 25, 1921 2,679,648 Wendell June 1, 1954 2,806,225 Singer Sept. 17, 1957 2,832,962 Wendell May 6, 1958 

